Pincushion Giveaway!

Hello my blogging friends -
Things around here have been super busy - super crazy. But in a good way - ya know? Still, sometimes I wonder if my head is screwed on straight, and if I'll remember to get everything done that I promised to everyone. Yikes! I usually do though. I think I am the over-achiever of my family. Ha. Okay,.. on to more fun things. This week - something new for me. A giveaway!

I have been doing a TON of sewing lately, and I would be lost without these little things - pincushions! I have one in my sewing box, one near my machine, one near my cutting table. I really don't know what I would do without them. This is a picture of one I made and one my mother made for me years ago.

And since I love them so much, I want to pass one on to one of my loyal readers to share the love! This is one I made with really fun, bright fabrics. And it will come to you with a copy of this adorable book - "Pretty Little Pincushions," by Lark Books. This book is full of the cutest pincushion designs so you can make your own!
So, all you have to do is leave a comment to this post by August 24th, and I will randomly draw a name the next day on the 25th and post it here. Please make sure I can find you somehow through your comment - and if you blog about it and include a link to my site, I will enter your name twice! And I will ship internationally, so my new friends can play along too! Good luck everyone! (And thank you, Elyse, for pushing me to do it finally! :)

Check out some of the newest pincushions I've made in my shop! Trinkets!

MIA

So... I haven't been around as much this week in blogland and I feel left out of the loop. I miss it! But we've been doing a lot of swim lessons, house stuff - you know, summer types of things. Here's a picture of my grouchy daughter at the lake today. Sometimes she's really a sour puss and doesn't want me to take her picture, but I did anyway because she's wearing the little hair clip I whipped up for her. I thought she looked cute even with a scowl on her face!
But it's all these type of activities keep me away from my computer and usually that's okay, but sometimes I really miss seeing everyone's pretty blog posts!

In the evenings I try to squeeze in a little creating - here's a new polka dot birdie I made and put on a decorated spool. I think he's kinda cute - especially on one side where his eye came out in the dot. Cute.


And then this morning I made this little pillow/wall hanging, and soon I'm going to make more for my Etsy shop Trinkets with different birds because I really love birds - can you tell? :) I'll post more pictures of the other ones when they're done. What have the rest of you girls been up to this week?

Home Sweet Home

Hey - I'm back from vacation! We had a glorious time. You can't get much better than this! We rented a little cottage by the lake, and it had all the amenities (running water, indoor plumbing...) but seriously - it had everything but a dishwasher, - and with two kids, - this is my kind of camping!
I loved just leaving everything around and never picking up or making beds. And the weather was great - we spent most of the day fishing, swimming or just hanging out. It only rained once at night.
I caught up on my Solitaire skills (ha) and even read an ENTIRE novel! Oh my God. That was my goal for the week, and I accomplished it. I still can't believe it. But truthfully - I am a real homebody, and I am so glad to be back. I missed our two cats terribly, and I missed seeing my flowers, my yard, etc. It's good to be home.
I was also having fun creating! Put a few new things in the shop today. Hope you're all having a great week! Write me a comment and tell me how much you missed me. (You didn't even know I was gone, did you?? :)

Summer is Here!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Independence Day! We had our usual one here - very low key - just hanging out at home. This has been the first nice weekend we've had in about a month - seriously! So it was so nice to stay at home and be together. The weather was just gorgeous - 70 degrees and breezy - beautiful!
Here's my two enjoying sparklers. They were so excited to get out tonight and set things on fire! Little pyros! :)
Also - I've been doing even more sewing lately, although I don't have much to show for it. Here's some little lavender sachets I made just for fun. I especially like the one with the bird house on it - I free form sewed it right on top of the material. It was like drawing with thread. Fun!

Wild Strawberries

Look what my daughter and I have noticed this year - growing in our yard all on their own - wild strawberries. I saw them earlier this spring near the driveway side of our house and decided not to mow them, and today the little patch actually had ripe berries on it. My daughter, the gardener, helped me pick them and has been eating them all morning. So pretty and so tiny!

And I hope my Mom is reading this post! I have been doing quite a bit of sewing lately - all on the sewing machine she gave me a few years ago. I have been buying little pretty bits of fabric and I'm having fun coming up with things to make with them. Now - I'm not a very talented sewer - but I sure do enjoy it. Here's a pillow cover that I made.
And here's a little lined tote bag. I am so proud of myself because I never made anything that was lined before!

And now I'm off to post some new creations on my Etsy site Trinkets - hand-painted button hairpins. Aren't they funky?

Button-Eyed Creatures! Oh My!

Hey - check out this cool creature! She's "Farnesworth" and is a creation made by Anne of Creatures Northwest. Farnesworth's eyes are made from my Trinkets' hand painted buttons - stacked one on top of the other. Isn't this the neatest use for buttons? I think so!

Anne was super nice and right after she ordered, my daughter and I had to immediately go check out her site. Look at all these other funky creations! We wanted one of each! You have to get yourself over there, and of course, get some funky buttons for your own creations at Trinkets.

And new this week - another mixed media birdhouse! I just can't get enough of birds and bird houses! :)

Help! I Have Cute Plastic Bin Disorder!

Ha. This morning as I looked at my very messy studio desk, I realized that I couldn't get any work done because my desk was cluttered with yet more tins and plastic bins that I got at Target this week. Does anyone else share my affliction? I tell myself that I "NEED" them to organize my craft stuff, but soon I think I am going to "need" a new room to organize my craft bins and buckets! But I just love them - I love their bold shiny colors and junk-holding ability. Look what a mess I have going on in my studio! They don't seem to be doing their job.
On another note, check out this cool critter I saw this week - he is a Pileated Woodpecker. Huge and beautiful and not something you see every day. He actually let me walk up fairly close to him to get this shot. Cool!

Also - new ribbon flowers for sale in my shop this week - check them out! Trinkets.
Okay - off to fill some bins. :)

Memorial Day Musings

What a stellar, beautiful Memorial Day we had here today in my very small town. The weather was absolutely perfect - a dry, sunny day in the 70's with dappled sunshine and breezes ruffling my white curtains. I love these kind of days. And living close to the center of town, we have the good fortune of the parade passing right by our house! Our neighbor's son plays taps on his bugle, and kids we know all march in the parade. Here's a shot of my tall sweet son and pretty little flag waver.

And here's some of the brave veterans that march every year. I always get a bit choked up on Memorial Day.
And look at this! I won a fabulous Mother's Day gift giveaway from the very sweet Noelle. She sent me a huge box - with a beautiful Mother's Day card, a cd, spa treatment stuff - the works! I love it all - thank you Noelle! Go check out her site: Lil Bits and Pieces of Me and you will make a new friend in a day!

And here's what I saw tonight out on our lawn. Our motion activated light was coming on with the whipping of the American flag in the wind. And I saw this fluttering around. A Luna Moth. Never seen one close up but it was big - nearly 4 or 5" across I would say. I think it's an omen of good things to come!
Here's some new Etsy items added this week in my Trinkets shop. Hope you all had a glorious Memorial Day!

My Etsy Shop Featured on the Everyday Scrapper Blog!

Hi Girls - I'm super excited today because my little Etsy shop was featured on a very cool scrap site called: The Everyday Scrapper.
The woman who approached me, Catherine - created some really great layouts using some of my stuff. It's very gratifying to see things you've created used by others. And she is so super nice. You have to go check out the site - The Everyday Scrapper and tell her I sent you!
Here's a layout she did using Trinkets merchandise!
And here's a little felt birdie I made this week. He isn't real but the one below is!
I got this very cool hummingbird feeder as a Mother's Day gift from my Mother-in-law. Isn't it neat? And on the first day I put it up, we had many birds come! I couldn't believe it. And don't ya know I was standing right there, of course, ready to snap a picture??? :)

Cuteness

I just had to post about these cute little dollies my daughter and I made. I saw them online with a tutorial here: Clothespin Doll. I was immediately smitten with them and had to try making them. We finished a few and my daughter literally carried hers with her everywhere today - to the store, in the car - outside planting flowers. I was amazed that something so small and handmade would entertain her for so long.


They also fit perfectly inside our dollhouses. (Yes - I said dollhouses - plural. We have THREE dollhouses!) Check out the big terrifying tiger in the living room!